Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-07-28
CHEAPER FENCING.
An Important Question That L. Rapidly

An Importsnt Question That Is Rapidly
Growing In Interest.
The question of fencing has long
been important to land owners, and it
is rapidly growing in interest. The
materials formerly used for this pur-
pose are steadily becoming scarcer and
dearer. Stone, rail- boards, and live
fences were we'll in their day, but so
were the scythe, sickle and fail, before
the advent of moving, reaping and
threshing machines The use of these
valuable machines did not extend more
rapidly than has metallic fencing.
s1bjoin the following extracts by
prominent authorss "A farm of 100
acres. as fenced on many old farms,
has 20 acres of land taken up in this
worse than useless manner" "A
hedge covers a great deal of ground and
shades still more. 1t is not a cheap
and durable fence Hedges oc-
cupy in many districts in England one
fifth of the soil.'' 1.-THE hedge destroys
the value of the land for several feet
on each side, by the exhausting of the
roots. The necessary training is ex-
pensive and troublesome. and without
it the hedge is valueless.
In 1872 the use of iron and steel
fencing was unknown in this country,
save for parks and lawns; plain wire
had been used to some extent, but
with unsatisfactory results. In 1878
the manufacture of wire with barbs at
tached began. and such was the popu-
lar demand for it that its consumption
more than doubled each year, reach
ing over 80, 900 tons i'm 1881. Many of
the great railroads prefer to fence
their tracks with metallic fencing. The
United States Commissioners of Indian
Affairs purchased barbed wire for sew
eral Indian tribes in 1888, and again
in 1884. Nine years ago the statistics
gathered at Washington show that the
fences then in existence cost 81, 744,-
$40, 931. The. additions since then
must have raised the cost of the fenc-
ing of the country to fully 50, 600, Co.,
900. The interest and repairs amount
to over 50, 600, 900 year. and rebuild
ing of decaying fences costs nearly as
much more. making our fence tax far
more than the cost of the army, navy,
the general Government expenses and
pensions. together with interest on the
public debt.
With such figures is it not time to
look about us for cheaper and more
durable fence? The question arises
whether metallic fences remedy this
evil to a great extent. There is occa-
sienally an accident from the use OF
barbed wire fences. This danger may
be remedied in a great measure by the
style of putting them up. For barbed
wire fence, ridge should be thrown
up, leaving ditch on each side. A
field thus prepared with ridge and
ditch will require one less wire, which
will cover the cost of making the
ridge and ditching and prevent many
accidents, as the attention of horses is
arrested by ditch. Four wires. with
a good ridge. make a very efficient
fence, and one comparatively HARM
less. Metallic posts are being used
quite extensively with satisfactory re-
suits. Some assert that they are pro-
lection to stock from electricity. the
wires attracting and conducting the
fluid to the posts and into the ground,
as they are set two feet in the earth.
reaching the moisture. At any rate
the subject is worthy of thought. Cor.
Ohio Farmer.